Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Whispers from the Ghosting Trees

Greg Laden generously offered me the opportunity to guest post on his blog (I know, shocking right! A real scientist!!). Here's the beginning of it, which was published today. You can click here to read the whole thing (and stick up for me in comments!). Thanks, Greg!!

Whispers from the Ghosting Trees

While we
hustle busily through the necessities of our lives, wrapped up in our daily
preoccupations - our obligations to our families, our jobs, and our dreams - at
the same time all around the world, trees are silently expiring. For those who take the time to look, we can
see that the forests are being transformed before our helpless and incredulous
gaze into spectral mausoleums, as even the most ancient living wood is consumed
by a raging tsunami of pathogens unprecedented in scale and virulence. What has instigated this global explosion of
lethal insects, disease and fungus, which is decimating swathes of trees across
ravines and mountains, invading city streets and wilderness, rampaging through
parks and suburban backyards? What
would we hear the trees saying if we understood the language of their injured
foliage, if we could discern the message in their tortured splintered branches?

Only the latest in a long tradition of foresters,
scientists, and ecologists, I am merely an amateur and a gardener doing what I
can to warn society that there is a longstanding trend under way that is
ominously accelerating. Until very
recently impaired tree health was generally regarded as a regional, episodic
problem mostly attributable to acid rain from sulfur dioxide. Now, new satellite technology has revealed
that precursors of ozone - reactive nitrogen and methane pollution - travel
across continents and oceans, and the toxic reach extends into the most remote
and rural places. What was once slow and
localized and species-specific has become terrifyingly fast, ubiquitous and
indiscriminate.

Is
it merely a colossal coincidence that all over the world, within the past few
decades and at a hugely accelerating rate, trees are dying? If it’s not a coincidence, what is the
underlying factor? Fair warning – this
post will be a long explanation as to how there is an underlying factor , and why it is pollution.One of the strongest and most persuasive evidence for me has been the
visible damage to foliage and needles that became virtually universal several
years ago.Serious, terminal damage can
occur in roots before any of the classic symptoms appear on leaves…so the fact
that by the end of the summer growing season, it is just about impossible to
find a single leaf on a tree, bush, garden produce or ornamental flowering
plant that ISN’T visibly injured indicates the extent to which the problem has
intensified.Just about any link to my
blog will include photos of typical leaf damage.